‘The situation is very bad’: India star spinner rescued by National Rescue Fund amid Gujarat rains

Several cities in Gujarat are facing flood-like conditions following heavy rains over the past few days. The situation in Vadodara is quite bad as low-lying areas are flooded after the Vishwamitri river burst its banks despite the rains stopping. Radha Yadav shared on social media that she was in a “very bad situation” due to floods but was rescued by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). On her Instagram story, she posted a video showing NDRF officials rescuing some people with the help of boats amid heavy waterlogging on the roads. “We were stuck in a very bad situation. Thank you so much #NDRF for saving us,” Radha wrote while posting the video on the social media platform.

Heavy rains lashed parts of Gujarat for the fourth straight day on Wednesday, with rain-related incidents killing 19 more people, taking the death toll in three days to 26, while around 17,800 people were evacuated from flood-affected areas, officials said.

The dead included seven missing persons whose bodies were recovered after the tractor trolley they were travelling in was swept away by floodwaters while crossing a flooded causeway near Davana village in Halwad taluka of Morbi district on Sunday, a police official said.

Although the rains in Vadodara have temporarily stopped, the Viswamitri river that flows through the city burst its banks and flowed into residential areas, submerging buildings, roads and vehicles, leaving large swathes of low-lying areas inundated.

Amid flood disasters in several parts of Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi summoned Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel to take stock of the situation and assured the central government’s support to the state in its fight against natural calamities.

On Wednesday, districts of Dwarka, Jamnagar, Rajkot and Porbandar in Saurashtra region received 50 mm to 200 mm of rainfall in the 12 hours till 6 pm. Bhanvad taluka in Dwarka district received 185 mm of rainfall during the period, the highest in the state.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted very heavy rains in parts of Saurashtra on Thursday.

People trapped in houses and rooftops in Vadodara city were rescued and shifted to safer places by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), its state counterpart SDRF and three Army columns deployed for the purpose, officials said.

(with PTI input)